Question by doodle: why is there a little chunk of russia between lithuania and poland?
I’ve been wondering why there is a little bit of russia located between poland and lituania. Why is it there? What is the history of it?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Sawbuck
The little chunk of land includes the very important seaport city of Kaliningrad. After World War 2, Russia insisted on having it added to Russian territory so it wouldn’t go back to either Poland or Germany. As long as Russia controlled Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the distinction probably didn’t mean much. today, with the 3 Baltic Republics all independent of Russia, the situation of this little enclave around the port must be kind of interesting!
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tartu2222 says
I would add that it is heavily industrialized, dirty, and a bit dangerous. It also requires a visa from Moscow to get in.
aussie_oz says
The Region is now called Kaliningrad Oblast and had been the northern part of the german province East Prussia untill the end of world war 2. Then Russia occupied the eastern part of Poland (today belonging to Ukraine – "giving" Poland parts of the former German Reich instead, e.g. Silesia and southern East Prussia), the three Baltic States, and the Kaliningrad (till then called Königsberg) area.
When the Soviet Union broke into sovereign countries Kaliningrad Oblast stayed with Russia because it could not become a state by itself due to its heritage: it never had been a sovereign country but "only" a part of a bigger state. Certainly Russia wanted (and wants) to keep Kaliningrad; it's of strategic importance as an access to the Baltic Sea – although not directly connected anymore to the rest of Russia..